Lachnaea capitata (L.) Crantz

Erect, sparsely to moderately branched shrub up to 1.8 m tall, single-stemmed at base; reseeder. Branches ascending, slender, lax, occasionally rigid (few individuals from Cape Peninsula), ridged below leaf bases, internodes 0.5 to 2 x leaf length, glabrous or distal 1-4 internodes below inflorescence sericeous, leafy, becoming nude and marked with leaf scars. Leaves alternate, ascending, crowded to distant, sessile, amphistomatic, glabrous, linear to narrowly elliptic, 5.2-21.0 x 0.7-1.8 mm, coriaceous, green, concolourous, enervate, glossy, white-punctulate; adaxially ± flat to concave; abaxially flat to convex, sometimes subkeeled; apex acute to acuminate; base cuneate to attenuate. Inflorescence a terminal, ebracteate capitulum, 5-16 mm diam., up to 20-flowered with 1-8 open flowers, pedunculate; peduncle 3-6 mm long, sericeous. Receptacle at first hemispherical, later after elongating, cylindrical-conical, 0.9-20.2 x 1.5-6.0 mm, sericeous. Flowers sessile, subactinomorphic, cream. Hypanthium 2.5-4.6 mm long, circumscissile 0.4-0.6 from base; upper portion obconical; basal portion ovoid, ellipsoid or obovoid, sericeous outside, inside between plane of circumscission and base of floral scales adpressed hirsute, rest glabrous. Sepals ascending, subequal, elliptic to oblate or ovate to widely depressed ovate, 1.2-2.8(-5.0) x 1.2-3.2 mm, adaxially densely to sparsely covered with short, silky, adpressed hairs, abaxially sericeous, apex rounded to obtuse. Stamens exserted or inner, antepetalous whorl only anthers exserted, outer, antesepalous whorl arising at base of sepals, inner, antepetalous whorl arising a 0.25-0.5 down upper portion of hypanthium; filaments 0.3-1.7 mm long, inner whorl shorter than outer whorl; anthers ellipsoid to spheroid, 0.4-0.7 mm long, abaxially without broad connective tissue. Floral scales included, arising 0.67-0.75 down upper portion of hypanthium, narrowly oblong, 0.4-0.9 mm long, glabrous, translucent or yellow-translucent. Ovary ellipsoid to obovoid, 0.7-1.6 mm long, glabrous. Style filiform, 1.7-4.7 mm long, adpressed hairy to sparsely adpressed hairy. Stigma brush-like.